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Now your blood is on my hands
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By now, regular readers should be WELL fucking aware of the name VAHRZAW. Vehemently old-school Australian black death forged way back in the darkest days of 1992, we’ve covered them countless times and bass / vokill demon George Van Doorn has even turned his venomous tongue to eviscerating bands right here on our stained pages. They began as the purest of ice-cold black metal, later metamorphosing into an idiosyncratic blend of snarling, progressive blackened death for their recent run of albums – but now, the past is reanimated. The wolves are coming home… so strap in and prepare to be ripped right back to the glorious early ’90s, as we partner once again with the mighty pair of Transmissions From The Dark and Bitter Loss Records to bring you the first taste of their ravenous return to full caps BLACK FUCKING METAL with In The Shallows of a Starlit Lake.
The fifth full-length birthed during their reign as kings of the filthy and no-fucks-given Aussie underground, the band say this album is… “a return to our black metal roots where the old guard dominated extreme metal. Early incarnations of Satyricon, Emperor, Impaled Nazarene, Ulver, Gorgoroth, Mayhem… and the demos of Carpathian Forest, Sorhin, Setherial & Thy Serpent. Everything raw and live sounding with the addition of synths and soundscapes. Minimal fuss. Maximum speed.”
Opening salvo ‘The Amber Glow Of The Gaslight’, which we are honoured to stream here today, is the very personification of that conviction. Calling to tortured mind many of their contemporaries listed above yet bestowing upon the blueprint their own “Vahrzaw” flair, Williams (ex-Elegeion) is in his absolute element as hyperspeed tremolo menace and melodic magniloquence make you howl at the heavens like the turn of the century never happened. The unstoppable Gawith (Eskhaton, Cemetery Urn, ex-Hobbs Angel of Death) does what he does best and annihilates the skins with impunity. Synths of exquisite vintage swirl perilously and whip up a diabolical storm whilst Van Doorn is a man possessed, delivering his most vicious performance to date.
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Regarding the song lyrics, George says:
“‘The Amber Glow Of The Gaslight’ began when I was bored during one of the lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. I thought I’d put a call out on Facebook to see if people wanted to collaborate on song lyrics. Quite a few did, so I put together a messenger group. I had the song title and told people I thought gaslighting would be an interesting topic for a song. They all threw ideas for lines or verses at me and with my own lyrics added as well, I pieced together the song. There weren’t really any rules so it’s a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster of styles. I’d like to dedicate it to Glenn Tilson. He passed away recently and made a significant contribution to the lyrics.”
A mere taste of the devastation to come (trust me – stay tuned for further coverage), ‘The Amber Glow of the Gaslight’ is still a striking statement of intent. As many love to say, the past is indeed alive… but if you ask Vahrzaw, it was never fucking dead.
In The Shallows Of A Starlit Lake releases December 1st via Bitter Loss Records. Pre-orders available October 10th.
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Pre-order The Amber Glow of the Gaslight from the Bitter Loss Records webstore HERE and Bandcamp HERE tomorrow.
Support VAHRZAW:
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